Wanted: successor to Hugo Chávez. Must be divinely ordained. Campaigning opens tomorrow for Venezuela’s presidential election, which will be on April 14. Most observers expect vice president Nicolás Maduro, Chávez’s hand-picked successor, to win. Let’s go to Maduro for a comment: “All of the prophecies of Hugo Chávez, the prophet of Christ on this earth, have come true.” OK, then.

The Korean stand-off continued. The United States stationed an anti-missile ship of the coast, while South Korea’s president promised to retaliate against any North Korean attacks. One hopeful sign? The Kaesong industrial zone in North Korea operated by both countries hasn’t closed yet.

Tim Fernholz on what Cyprus’ failed banks have in common with the rest of the world: A lack of capital. “‘Here is a sort of “stress test” I would like to run: Can the banks raise new equity? Let them go to the market and see whether investors will give them money in exchange for new shares, not at a price that the banks like, but any price,’ [Stanford University economist Anat] Admati says.” Read more here.

Our best wishes for a productive day. Please send any news, comments, Elizabethan commodity speculation strategies and pictures of Sean Parker’s wedding duds to hi@qz.com. You can follow us on Twitter here for updates during the day.

Sign up for the Quartz Daily Brief here, tailored for morning delivery in Asia, Europe, and the Americas.

Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly named Tesla Motors chief executive Elon Musk as the company’s founding CEO. The founding CEO was Martin Eberhard.